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Effects of stopping smoking:

20 minutes after giving up

Your blood pressure and your pulse rate return to normal.

What this means
Raised blood pressure and high pulse rate both put strain on your heart, increasing your risk of a heart attack. The minute you stop your risk is reduced.

8 hours after giving up

The carbon monoxide levels in your blood are halved.

What this means
Carbon monoxide from smoking can also produce distortions of time perception, psychomotor and visual impairment and negative effects on cognitive skill. Reducing the level of carbon monoxide in your blood will reduce these problems. Carbon monoxide reduces the uptake of oxygen from the lungs - the higher the levels of carbon monoxide, the lower the levels of oxygen.3 Oxygen is vital for the functioning of all energy systems in the body; so as soon as you cut carbon monoxide levels, you will experience enhanced energy levels.

24 hours after giving up

Carbon monoxide is eliminated from the body.

What this means
Look forward to better sports performance, with stronger endurance, lower levels of fatigue, improved recovery after exercise and a lower heart rate for each level of exercise.

48 hours after giving up

Nicotine is eliminated from the body.

What this means
As well as being highly addictive4, nicotine has a number of unpleasant side effects on the body. It can act as an emetic (cause vomiting) and it can produce stomach upsets. It raises blood pressure, and increases the likelihood of hypothermia and seizures. Get rid of the nicotine and you will get rid of these symptoms.

2-21 weeks after giving up

Circulation improves.

What does this mean
Bad circulation causes numerous problems, ranging from persistently cold feet, slow skin healing, Raynaud's disease and 5 peripheral vascular disease (PVT) which can even lead to limb amputation. Giving up smoking will reduce your risk of most circulation problems.

After 1 year

Your risk of a heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker.

What this means
Each year, tobacco smoking accounts for around 26,000 deaths from coronary heart disease in the UK - approximately 17 per cent of all heart disease deaths. The UK has some of the highest heart disease deaths in the world.6 Luckily, giving up will quickly start to reduce your risk.

After 10 years

Your risk of lung cancer falls to about half that of a smoker

What this means
In 1999, 22 per cent of all cancer deaths were due to lung cancer, making it the most common form of cancer death. Over 80 per cent of all lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking.7 Giving up is the most important thing you can do to reduce your risk.

After 15 years

Your risk of a heart attack is the same as someone who has never smoked.

What this means
A better chance of a long, healthy life!

Hoping no one considers this spam:

The benefits of giving up

The younger you stop the better, but even people up to 75 years old will have a longer life. It's never too late to benefit from quitting.

The benefits you will notice within a few weeks of giving up are:

your hair, skin and breath no longer smell of tobacco smoke
your breathing is easier
your sense of taste and smell improve
you'll see a reduction in phlegm and smoker's cough
your lung efficiency starts to recover to a rate similar to a non-smoker
you will be better able to cope with physical exertion
you'll feel positive about yourself for having stopped
and of course, you will have saved money through not buying cigarettes

Stop for your own sake

Smoking causes many diseases - some fatal and some seriously debilitating - which means poor quality of life. The question you have to ask yourself is - is it worth it?

most smokers do not realise just how dangerous smoking is
smoking causes about 90% of all deaths from lung cancer, chronic bronchitis and emphysema and a quarter of all deaths from heart disease. On average those killed by smoking will lose 10 to 15 years of life. For many it will be 20 or even 30 years more
smoking is linked to other cancers including cancer of the mouth, throat, larynx and oesophagus. It can also cause peripheral vascular disease which can result in gangrene and amputation of the affected part of the body
the suffering, distress and disability caused by these and other illnesses such as bronchitis and emphysema destroy not only the lives of those who suffer from them, but those of their partners and families as well

Stop for other people's sake

Passive smoking (inhaling other people's cigarette smoke) has been shown to be linked to an increased risk of lung cancer in non-smokers. The workplace is a particular hazard since we spend eight hours a day at our place of work. Eight hours a day, five days a week, week in, week out is a lot of smoking for non-smokers.

In households where the parents smoke, children are particularly vulnerable. Young children double their risk of developing bronchitis if their parents smoke. They are also at greater risk of pneumonia, asthma and chronic middle ear disease.